Mechanical device



Get. 13, 1964 M. F. BATTERSON 3,152,823

MECHANICAL DEVICE Filed Aug. 6, 1962 75 5 INVENTOR. MILES F BATTERSONATTOR N EYS United, States Patent 2,152,823 MECHANICAL DEVICE 0 Miles F.Batterson, Kalamazoo, Mich, assignor to :Unifai: fiorporation,Kalamazoo, Mich a corporation '01 L Michigan Filed Aug. 6, 1962, Ser.No. 215,021

8 Claims. (Cl. 292- 87) This invention relates to a latch for amesh-type cage and particularly to a latch-for a mesh-type animal cage.

Previous latches of acceptable reliability have usually been relativelyexpensive to manufacture and install, thus adding significantly to thecost of the cage. in some cases the latch assembly has consisted ofseveral different parts thus adding to the complexity of the cage andthe cost of its manufacture. It has been common practice to attach suchlatches by bolting or welding. The former method may require recurrentmaintenance to keep the latch tightly fixed to the cage while in use andthe latter method of attachment, should it break down, requires specialtools for repair which are not usually available to the user.

Such multipart latches often cannot be easily opened and/ or positivelylatched with only one hand which makes operation difficult when theother hand of the user 1s transferring objects or animals into or out ofthe cage.

Accordingly, the objects of the invention include:

(1) To provide a latch which is of one-piece construction and which isrelatively simple and less expensive to manufacture than existinglatches. V

(2) To provide a latch which is easily manufactured in different sizesfor cages of different mesh sizes wherein each size latch is capable ofuse with meshes of several different sizes. (3) To provide a latch whichrequires no tools, additional parts, excessive efiort or special skillsto attach it quickly and positively to the cage and which can be easilyremoved from the cage if desired by reversing a simple installationprocedure. i

(4) To provide a latch which is easily attached to existing cages as areplacement for a defective latch of a different type.

(5) To provide a' latch whereby a cage door can be easily opened orclosed and latched positively with one hand and whereby the closing ofthe cage door will auto matically and positively latch same.

(6) 'To provide a latch which cannot be opened or rendered ineffectiveby small mammals or lower animal forms.

(7) To provide a latch which is comparatively free of protrusions whichmight injure an animal either inside the cage or being transferred intoor out of said cage or which might harm a person working with said cageand animal.

Other objects of this invention will become apparent to persons familiarwith this type of equipment upon reading the following specification andexamining the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is an end elevational view of an open mesh cage equipped with alatch embodying the invention.

FIGURE 2 is a section taken along the line IIII of FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a partial end view of an open mesh cage equipped with amodification of the invention.

FIGURE 4 is a section taken along the line IV-IV of FIGURE 3.

General Description The objects and purposes of this invention,including those set forth above, have been met by a latch con-.

3,152,823 Fatented Oct. 13, 1964 on the cage by weaving it through themesh of said cage and is held fixedly in its location by the force ofits resilience bearing on the cage mesh. Said resilient force is alsoused to positively latch the cage door and must be overcome to open saiddoor.

Detailed Description Referring now to FIGURE 1, the embodimentof theinvention herein selected for primary consideration is attached to anopen mesh cage 1, the mesh of which may be of any suitable construction,here shown as welded. The cage end 2 shown consists of a series ofspaced, generally parallel, vertical elongated members hereinafterreferred to as wires of which three'are shown at 3, 4 and 5 attached to,in the aforementioned manner, a series of spaced, generally parallel,horizontal wires of which two are shown at 6 and 7. The cage door10,'which in this embodiment is also of mesh construction, similarlyconsists of a series of spaced, substantially parallel, vertical wiresof which two are shown at 8 and 9 (FIGURE 2) attached in theaforementioned manner to a series'of spaced, substantially parallel,horizontal wires of which two are shown at 11 and 12. The door 10 is inthis embodiment supported so that the'common plane through the verticalcage door wires 8 and 9 at least substantially I coincides with thecommon plane through the vertical wires 5 and 13 of the cage ends 2 and15, respectively.

The cage door It is hingedly connected to the cage end 15 by anysuitablemeans here shown as straps, such as strap 16 fixedly connectedto the wire 13 and rotatably supporting wire 9 of the cage door'lil.

' C The latch 20 consists of an elongated sheet of resilient materialwhich may be of sheet steel somewhat longer than the distance betweenthe vertical wires 3 and 5 and somewhat narrower than the distancebetweenthe horizontal wires 6 and 7. The latch as shown in FIGURES 1 and2 has a' hemicircular bend 22 at its leftward end, the inner radius ofwhich is not less than equal to and is preferably slightly larger than,the radius of the vertical wire 3.

The midportion of the latch 20 may be bent on a large radius if requiredso that when the latch strip is properly installed an area 24 on theouter side of said midportion of the resilient latch strip 26 bearsforcibly on the inner side of the vertical wire 4.

Near the rightward end'of the latch strip a U-shaped bend 26 is shownwhich is preferably of equal or slightly larger radius than and isdeeper than bend 22 and which faces the same direction as does the bend22. The depth of the U-shaped bend 26 is sufficient to accommodate bothvertical wires 5 and 8. The tips of the U-shaped bend 26 join the leftand right sides of the latch strip at the bends 3th and 29,respectively.

The rightward end of the latch strip 20 is here shown as a nose 27 andis preferably bent along the width of the strip at any convenient angleto the longitudinal axis of the strip away from the cage interior.

Operation The latch 20 may be installed on the cage 1 in the positionshown in FIGURES l and 2 by first orienting said latch outside the cage1 such that its longitudinal axis is horizontal and parallel to theplane of the "cage end 2 with the bend 22 to the left and the innerradius of said bend facing said cage end. The leftward end of thelatchstrip is first inserted between the vertical wires indicated at 4 and 5and a pair of horizonatl wires herein indicated at 6 and 7. The leftwardend of the latch strip 20 is then moved to the. left past wire 4 andthen further left and outwardly from the cage interior untilthe innersurface of the bend 22 engages the outer surface of the wire 3. At

this point the inner surface of the bend 26 has automatically engagedthe outer surface of the wire 5 and the latch is installed.

Said latch strip may also be installed, given the same pro-installationorientation as above mentioned by insert- The installed latch strip 20is limited in its vertical.

movement by' the horizontal Wires 6 and '7 and its rightward-leftwardand inward-outward movement as a whole by the configuration of the bends22 and 26 and the compressive forces between said bends and the verticalwires 3 and 5, respectively, established by the stressed installation ofthe resilient latch strip 20.

Removal of the latch, should it be desired, can be accomplished by firstdisengaging the bends 22 and 26 from the wires 3 and 5, respectively,and then reversing either of the above-mentioned. installationprocedures. Said latch is preferably installed near the midpoint inheight of the cage and opposite the cage end whereon the door is hinged,asshown in FIGURES l and 2, but said latch may be installed at anotherpoint in height on said cage end or on the top or bottom of said cage ifmore convenient. Such placement will not impair the effectiveness ofsaid latch and may be desired for certain special uses. Assuming thecage door to be closed and latched, said door may be opened by movingthe nose 27 away from the center of the door (toward the viewer in FIG-URE 1) until the bend 29 is beyond the door at which time the door isfree to swing open. Assuming the cage door 10 to be open, said door maybe closed and latched simply by swinging the door toward the closedposition during which operation the door wire 8 rides on the nose 27causing said nose to move resiliently away from said door. end of saidlatch is forced toward the center of the door by its resiliency andposition of installation to the point where the inner surface of thebend 26 contacts the outer surface of the wire 5. The door is nowrestricted from inward or outward movement by the latch strip surfacesjoining the bend 26 to the bends 30 and 29, respectively.

Modification The above latch strip is easily made in a modified form towork effectively on mesh-type cages which differ structurally from thecage described in connection with the above latch strip. FIGURES 3 and 4show installed a latchstrip adapted to use with mesh-type cages whereinthe mesh opening is smaller and the wire diameter may be smaller. Themodified latch strip 40 may be of lighter gauge resilient material andwill not distort lighter cage wire because the latch strip 40bearsagainst wire lengths forming a common side of two adjacent mesh openingsthus, in effect, distributing the bearing force over twice the wirelength and latch width than would be the case were an unmodified latchused with this small mesh cage.

The latch strip 40 is also modified to work with a cage door 10a whichis hinged'outside the cage door opening and which also overhangs thecage end opposite the end of which the door is hinged.

The modified latch strip is otherwise and with few exceptions similar tothe principal embodiment in configuration and installation and isidenticalthereto in operation. Therefore, the foregoing description ofthe embodiment of FIGURES l and 2 will, with the addition of the suffixa to the identifying numbers, suffice to describe the embodiment ofFIGURES 3 and 4 excepting as indicated otherwise hereinafter.

An elongated notch 42 preferably slightly wider than As said door ridespast the bend 29 the rightward the outer surface of the wire 30.

at and extends from the leftward end of the latch strip to the right adistance preferably somewhat greater than the spacing of the wires 3aand 4a. 7 p

The midportion of the latch 4il'is preferably bent in a shallowapproximately 2 shaped manner as shown at 4'7 such that the upper break43 of the Z bend is at a distance from the bend 22a equivalent to thespacing between wires 3a and 4a.

Operation 0 FIGURE 3 Form The latch 49 is.preferabiy installed on thecage 1a in the position shown in FIGURES 3 and 4 by first orienting saidlatch outside the cage la so that its longitudinal axis is horizontaland parallel to the plane of the cage end 2a with the bend 22a to theleft and the inner radius of said bend facing midcage end. The leftwardend of the latch strip is first inserted between the vertical wiresindicated at 4a and 5a and a pair of horizontal wires herein indicatedat 6a and 7a so that the notch 42 essentially surrounds the horizontalwire 46. The leftward end ofthe latch strip 4% is then moved to the leftpast wire in and then further left and outwardly from the cage interioruntil the inner surface of the bend 22a engages At this point the innersurface 49 of the latch strip 40 slightly to the left of the bend 26ahas automatically engaged the outer surface of the wire 46 at the wire5a and the latch is installed. Removal of the latch, should it bedesired, can be accomplished by first disengaging the bends 22a and 26::from the wires 3a and 50, respectively, and then reversing theabove-mentioned installation procedure.

i from thecenter of the door (towardthe viewer in FIG- URE 3) until thebend 2% is beyond the door at which time the door is free to swing open.Assuming the cage door 16a to be open, said door may be closed andlatched simply by swinging the door toward the closed position duringwhich operation the door wire 8a rides on the nose 27a causing said noseto move resiliently away from said door. As said door rides past thebend 29a the rightwardend of said latch. is forced toward the center ofthe door by its resiliency and position of installation and to the pointwhere the inner surface of the bend 26a contacts the outer surface ofthe wire 5a. The door 16a is'in this position restricted from furtherinward movement by the latch strip surface joining the bend 26a to thebend 313a and by the overhang of said door. Said door is restricted fromoutward movement by the latch strip surface joining the bend 26a to thebend 29a.

Although a particular preferred embodiment of the invention has beendisclosed above for illustrative purposes, it will be recognized thatvariations or modifications of such disclosure, which come within thescope of the appended claims, are fully contemplated.

What is claimed is:

1. In a mesh-type enclosure, such as an animal cage, having a swingingdoor and at least three spaced, parallel, elongated members of which oneis adjacent and parallel to the swinging edge of said door, theimprovement in a latch construction for said enclosure which comprises:

a latch member comprising an elongated strip of resilient materialhaving a generally concave portion adjacent one end thereof and a secondgenerally concave portion adjacent the other end thereof, said first andsecond concave portions projecting transversely in the same directionfrom the remainder of said strip, said first concave portion closelyembracing a first side of one of said elongated members, the secondconcave portion being embraced around the same side of that one of saidelongated members adjacent the swinging edge of said door and a portionintermediate said concave portions passing around and lying snuglyagainst an opposite side of the intermediate one of said elongatedmembers, said second concave portion being deeper than said elongatedmember adjacent said door and being adapted to receive said edge of saiddoor thereinto. v 2. In a mesh-type enclosure, such as an animal cage,

" having a swinging door and at least three spaced, parallel,

generally coplanar elongated members of which one is adjacent andparallel to the swinging edge of said door, the improvement in a latchconstruction for said enclosure which comprises a latch membercomprising an elongated strip of resilient material having a generallyU-shaped portion adjacent one end thereof and a second generally U-shaped portion adjacent the other end thereof, said first and secondU-shaped portions projecting transversely in the same direction from theremainder of said strip, said first U-shaped portion being hooked aroundthe outside of one of said elongated members, the second U-shapedportion being hooked around the outside of that one of said elongatedmembers adjacent the swinging edge of said door and a portionintermediate said U-shaped portions passing around and lying snuglyagainst the inside of the intermediate one of said elongated members,the second U-shaped portion being of sufiicient depth that the arms ofthe U extend inwardly beyond said elongated member adjacent said doorfor embracing the swinging edge of said door. 3. In an enclosure ofgenerally mesh-type construction, having a swinging door whose swingingedge is adjacent a corner of said enclosure, and said enclosureineluding serially arranged first, second and third parallel elongatedmembers wherein said third member defines a corner of said enclosure andfurther including first, second and third cross members positionedtransversely to said first, second and third parallel members, theimprovement in latch construction therefor comprising:

a strip of elongated resilient material of length exceeding the distancebetween said first and said third parallel members and of width greaterthan the distance between any two adjacent ones of said cross membersbut less than the distance between said first and third cross members, aslot in said resilient member parallel with the lengthwise extentthereof and of length greater than the distance between said first andsecond parallel members but less than the distance between said firstand third parallel members, the end of said resilient member divided bysaid slot being arranged and positioned to embrace the outer side ofsaid first parallel member, a midportion of said resilient memberextending past and in contact with said second parallel member with Isaid slot embracing an intermediate one of said cross members, and theportion of said resilient member near the end thereof opposite saidslotted end lying outside of and engageable with said corner of the cagedefined by the third parallel member and a U- shaped portion nearer tobut spaced from the said last-named end of said resilient memberarranged to receive and embrace the swinging edge of said door. 4. Thedevice defined in claim 1 wherein the extremity of said resilient memberadjacent the second U-shaped portion is bent in a direction away fromthe hinge portion of said door to provide a ramp for leading theswinging edge of said door into said second U-shaped portion. 5. In acage having a sidewall comprising at least three spaced, parallel,elongated members, one of which forms an end edge of said sidewall, anda swinging door having a free end movable toward and away from aposition adjacent said one elongated member, the improvement in a latchstructurefor the cage which comprises:

a one-piece, elongated latch strip of resilient material,

said strip having a concave portion at one end partially closelyembracing one side of the elongated member farthest away from said onemember, said strip extending therefrom toward said one member with anintermediate portion thereof contacting the opposite side of theintermediate member, said strip having a second concave portion archedin the same direction as said first concave portion and disposedadjacent said one member, the free edge of said door being receivableinto the concavity of said second concave port-ion, and a nose portionextending from the end of said second concave portion remote from theremainder of the strip, said nose portion defining an acute angle withthe adjacent'part of said second concave portion.

6. A latch construction for releasably holding a door in place at oneend of a mesh-type cage, comprising:

, a one-piece, elongated strip of resilient material having two parallelconcave portions extending crosswise of the, strip adjacent the oppositeends thereof with their concavities facing in the same direction and anose extending from the end of one of said concave portions.

7. A latch construction for mounting on the sidewall of a mesh-type cageand adapted for releasably holding a cage door in position, comprising:

an elongated strip of resilient material having a first U-shaped sectionadjacent one end of the strip, said first section extending crosswise ofthe strip and being bent in one direction out of the plane of theportion of the strip adjacent thereto and being curved through an angleof at least about degrees, said strip having at the other end thereof asecond U-shaped section which is parallel with said first section andwhich is bent in said one direction out of the plane of the portion ofthe strip adjacent thereto so that both sections project in the samedirection from said strip, said second U-shaped section being of greaterdepth than said first section,

and a nose extending from the end of said second section remote from theremainder of the strip and defining an acute angle with the adjacentpart of said second U-shaped section.

8. A cage construction, comprising:

a cage having a pair of spaced apart sidewalls formed of criss-crossingwire members;

a door hingedly mounted on the end of one of said sidewalls and having afree end swingable toward and away from the end of the other sidewall;

a one-piece, elongated, latch strip mounted on said other sidewall, saidstrip having a U-shaped portion at its inner end which opens toward saidother sidewall from outside the cage and which snugly embraces one ofthe wire members thereof, the intermediate portion of said strip beingreceived within the cage and contacting another of said wire membersfrom inside the cage, said strip having another U-shaped portionadjacent its outer end which opens toward said other sidewall fromoutside the cage, the free end of said door being receivable into saidanother U-shaped portion, said strip having a nose at its outer endwhich extends from said another U-shaped portion away from said cage andwhich is inclined away from both said sidewalls.

References Cited in the file of this patent FOREIGN PATENTS 84,321Denmark Sept. 23, 1957

6. A LATCH CONSTRUCTION FOR RELEASABLY HOLDING A DOOR IN PLACE AT ONEEND OF A MESH-TYPE CAGE, COMPRISING: A ONE-PIECE, ELONGATED STRIP OFRESILIENT MATERIAL HAVING TWO PARALLEL CONCAVE PORTIONS EXTENDINGCROSSWISE OF THE STRIP ADJACENT THE OPPOSITE ENDS THEREOF WITH THEIRCONCAVITIES FACING IN THE SAME DIRECTION AND A NOSE EXTENDING FROM THEEND OF ONE OF SAID CONCAVE PORTIONS.